The Night Before Forever
by JCapFan4Lyfe
Summary: Callie is the "crazy one" on this night. Tomorrow she is supposed to be marrying Arizona and Callie is a mess. Will her late night visitor be able to calm her nerves?


A/N: So this is my first endeavor into the land of fanfiction. Any feedback, constructive criticism is welcome. I have a few other ideas floating around for multichapter fics but figure I should start out a bit small and see how it goes. So whether this is my first or last story, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks!

The Night Before Forever…

She was pacing. She was consumed with nervous energy and she just couldn't settle down. Mark's eyes followed her as she moved from one end of the room to the other. Despite his best attempts at calming Callie's nerves, he was at a loss and had given up trying to calm her in favor of just being present in the event that Sofia needed something. God only knows that her mother would probably put his daughter's diaper on backwards in her current state.

"What if she changes her mind? I mean I know she would never leave Sofia now, but what if she realizes that she could just be Sofia's mom without having to be my wife? This wasn't her dream. What if she realizes this still isn't her dream, Mark? What if I walk out tomorrow and she's not there waiting for me? Oh god, I'm going to have to explain to everyone why my fiancé isn't coming. They are all going to stare at me with those sad, pity eyes because my fiancé changed her mind, aren't they?" Callie animatedly talked to herself, or perhaps she was talking to Mark. It was unclear because every time Mark attempted to respond to her, she interrupted him with another string of anxiety laden questions.

Mark had had enough and jumped up to stand in front of Callie. He grabbed her wrists to keep her from gesticulating wildly. "You need to stop. You are making yourself crazy with worry for nothing. Robbins is going to be there. She's been the picture of happiness and excitement since the big family dinner and the rehearsal. She's not in the slightest close to calling this off. So STOP!"

" I can't Mark. Don't you understand? This isn't what I get. I don't get the house with the white picket fence and the 2.5 kids. I don't get everything I ever wanted. I don't get to be happy. You know my track record. This is too close to being perfect. I am so close to having the love of my life pledge to love me and our daughter for the rest of her life. It's just too good to be true. This came way too easy." Callie screamed as the tears she had fought so hard to keep at bay began to spill rapidly down her face.

"Torres you need to snap out of this. Robbins loves you. She's not O'Malley. She's not Hahn. She loves you, loves Sofia and puts up with me. She's not going anywhere." Mark searched Callie's eyes to see if his words sunk in. They hadn't. "Where is all of this coming from? Everything has been going pretty smoothly. Robbins has been calm as always and you've been the badass confident Torres. Where did that girl go?" Mark asked as she took his friends' hands in his own.

"I'm scared Mark" she whispered softly as she looked downwards. Suddenly her head shot up and she began her nervous rant again. "Mark, what if…"

"Stop with the what ifs Callie! You can't keep thinking the worse is going to happen. You need to settle down and relax. I mean you are supposed to be a blushing bride tomorrow and in your state you are going to be a hot mess tomorrow if you don't stop crying and get some sleep. The bride isn't supposed to be covered in splotches and have blood shot eyes and bags as deep as the Grand Canyon. Ok?"

Callie looked mortified and turned to look at herself in the dresser mirror. "I do look awful."

Mark rolled his eyes. "I'm going to take Sofia across the hall so you can get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep before your big day." He moved towards the door and without looking back interrupted Callie's next rant just as she opened her mouth, "Don't do it Torres. Any more from you and I will shoot you up with a sedative if I have to."

At that Callie sat on the edge of her bad and quietly whispered to the empty room "Everything will be ok." It was more of a prayer than a statement. Her nerves had not dissipated even the least bit.

Mark got Sofia, pulled out his cell phone and dialed the familiar number as soon as he stepped out the front door. "Hey, I need you."

Callie was lying in her bed staring at the ceiling when she heard keys jingling in the front door and it subsequently creak open. "I'm trying Mark but I just can't sleep. I can't shut my stupid brain off." Callie yelled.

Just then Arizona appeared leaning against the doorframe. "I, for one, love that brain of yours, but it does get you into trouble sometimes" Arizona smirked.

"Arizona…" Callie whispered longingly, "You're supposed to be at the hotel with your parents. We agreed to spend this night apart so we could get ready early in the morning and not worry about seeing each other before the ceremony."

"We did agree but a little elf, well more like a tall ogre, winked Arizona, told me that my soon-to-be-wife needed me. So poof, here I am" said Arizona as she flashed Callie a brilliant smile.

Callie couldn't help but laugh a little. Her fiancé always seemed to be able to break any tension or nervous energy with just the right words or with just that dazzling super magic smile of hers.

"What's going on Baby?" asked Arizona whose facial expression went from amusement in the hopes of breaking the tension to genuine concern.

"I… I…" Callie tried to come up with something to tell Arizona, something that wouldn't upset her. "I… I…" Callie took a deep breath and decided that starting off their marriage with lies or insecurities probably wasn't the best route to take. She decided to come clean. "I want you to be there tomorrow. I need you to be there tomorrow. I need you to be waiting for me at the end of the aisle."

"Calliope, what…"

"No let me finish. As far as I can remember, things have always been a struggle. Nothing has ever been easy. In grade school I didn't make friends easily. I was the kid who sat at the back of the class and ate her hair. I can't remember back that far but in kindergarten I'm probably the kid who ate the paste." Arizona snickered.

"High school was hard because my family had money and people seemed to hate me for it so girls were mean and boys, even they didn't like me because they seemed to think I was too badass for even them. College and med school were struggles. I mean I grew into my own and had friends but school was tough and I had to work a lot harder than my friends. "

"Residency, as you know from the gossip mill, was full of hardships. " Callie inhaled deeply as Arizona took her hand in hers. "Being with George was difficult, being with Erica was more than difficult, and the aftermath of those relationships meant months of self-doubt, self-loathing, and insecurities which played out in front the whole freaking hospital. Nothing in recent memory has been easy. Nothing… except for you. Loving you, Arizona, has been the easiest thing I've ever done. It comes as naturally to me as breathing. We've had to work through some issues but loving you itself, in its most basic form, has never been hard. It's like I was meant to love you, like God in his infinite wisdom somehow created my heart in such a way that it was perfectly designed to hold love for you, just for you." Callie swallowed thickly to try and maintain her composure. She needed to get this out.

"Nothing ever worth anything in my life has come easy. It's always taken hard work. But this…" signaling between herself and Arizona, "…this is easy. It's everything I've ever wanted and dreamed of having. You are the single most amazing thing that has ever happened to me and I'm scared that this is all just way too easy, too good to be true. I keep waiting for the hammer to drop, for reality to sink in and have my happiness ripped right out from under me. And the thing that would make me happiest is to marry you tomorrow so I'm just waiting for it to be taken away. And I need that not to happen. I need you to be there tomorrow. " Callie let out a huge breath. There she said it and now she could barely look Arizona in the eyes. She looked everywhere else in the room but at the woman she loved and needed so desperately.

"Calliope, look at me. Look at me please" Arizona pleaded as she tipped Callie's chin towards her and then cupped her face with her hands. "Calliope Torres, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be at the end of that aisle waiting for you in your big white dress. I'm going to be there waiting to hold your hand and waiting to tell you and our family and friends just how much I love you. Nothing and I mean nothing is going to keep me from standing there tomorrow and fulfilling my dream."

"Arizona, you said so yourself, this isn't your dream."

"It is Calliope. This is my dream. You've given me new dreams, dreams I never even knew I had. You and Sofia are my dream. And Mark…" she smirked a bit "…well Mark may not be part of the dream per se, but he is part of the vision. My vision for the future which is us- you and me- and our growing family. Mark included."

"Arizona, you've done all the hard stuff in our relationship. You came to me that night in Joe's bathroom. You changed your mind about dating a newborn. You changed your mind about kids. You changed your mind about Africa. You accepted this peculiar family arrangement. You've done all the hard work. Nothing about this has been easy for you and here I am getting everything I ever wanted without feeling like I've done anything to deserve it. I've gotten this way too easy."

"Calliope, have you ever stopped to think that you made all those things easy? Sure, in theory they are difficult decisions but in reality I could not not love you. I could not not be with you. I know that's a lot of double negatives but bear with me here." Arizona smiled at her fiancé as she continued. "When I fell in love with you, I knew my life had changed and would change forever and I learned to welcome those changes. You tell me loving me is easy. Well, loving you has been just as easy, just as second nature for me. Loving you is a part of my purpose in life. I really believe that. You know fate, destiny, and all those things that I never used to believe in… I believe in them now, because of you. I believe in them because of my love for you. I love you with all my heart, with every fiber of my being and I can't wait for forever to begin with you." Arizona searched Callie's eyes for understanding as she herself became lost in her own tears. Arizona barely got through that speech. She had no idea how she was going to get through her vows tomorrow.

Callie wiped the tears away from Arizona's cheeks and leaned her forehead against hers. "I love you too, Arizona. So much more than I could ever truly express, but if you will still have me, crazy freak out and all, I will spend forever trying."

" Forever starts tomorrow Calliope."

"Yes, it does. We're getting married" smiled Callie.

"We're getting married and I, for one, can't wait" said Arizona as she pulled Callie into her arms.

"Arizona?"

"Hmm..."Arizona replied as she breathed in her fiancé, hoping to freeze frame this moment in her mind and heart.

"We should probably get some sleep before our big day. I know we agreed we should spend the night apart but since you're already here, would you stay with me tonight?"

"Of course honey. Truthfully, I was missing you before Mark called and was planning on breaking our agreement anyways."

"Oh you were, were you?"

"Yep, I just missed you way too much and I knew that stupid brain of yours was bound to get you in trouble" she giggled.

"You said you love my stupid brain."

"That I do… and everything else about you."

With that she leaned in to place an emotion laden kiss onto Callie's lips, hoping to wipe away any remaining fear Callie may have had about tomorrow. She was surprised when Callie quickly deepened the kiss and pulled her as close as possible. Arizona pulled away reluctantly as Callie's hands began to wander under her shirt and caress her sides.

"Calliope, what are you doing?" she breathily asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting a head start on our honeymoon and trying to seduce my soon-to-be-wife."

Arizona balked and disengaged herself from her fiancé's grasp. "Oh no you don't. We are having a QUIET night Calliope. Emphasis on quiet. No fooling around, no sex, the night before our wedding."

Callie pouted "Fine, but I hate you."

Arizona replied cheekily, "No, you love me. Besides we will have plenty of time for that kind of fun later. A whole lifetime worth."

Callie's pout turned into the biggest smile she would muster as she reached out to caress Arizona's cheek, "We sure do. We have forever."


End file.
